CCTV helps capture south Delhi temple thief

NEW DELHI: A 22-year-old has been arrested after a CCTV camera caught him stealing ornaments from a temple in south Delhi’s New Friends Colony on Thursday evening.

NEW DELHI: A 22-year-old has been arrested after a CCTV camera caught him stealing ornaments from a temple in south Delhi’s New Friends Colony on Thursday evening.

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David Pradhan was arrested on Monday from Khizrabad area near Taimoor Nagar, almost two kilometers from Mata ka Mandir from where he stole the jewellery. Pradhan, a native of Darjeeling, works as a waiter at a city five-star hotel .

What gave away the man was his dark blue t-shirt, which he was wearing while committing the crime, with the words - “52” and “GIANI” written on it. The CCTV grab was circulated through WhatsApp on mobile numbers of all beat staff of the NFC police station.

Kuldeep Singh, SHO of the NFC police station, during his day’s briefings with staff showed them photographs of the suspect and particularly pointed out the clues like the colour of his t-shirt, number 52 and GIANI. The staff were tasked to look for the suspect in nearby residential localities, said a senior police officer.

On Monday, head constable Pushpender and constable Nitin were patrolling in Taimoor Nagar when they spotted the suspect wandering near a Gurudwara in Khizrabad. The two found the suspect wearing the same t-shirt and it had number 52 and GIANI written on it. To confirm that he was the same suspect they were looking for, the two policemen took out their mobile phones and matched his face and t-shirt recorded in the CCTV video.

The two cops caught the suspect and brought him to the police station for questioning.“Pradhan initially tried to mislead us and plead innocence. But when confronted with the video footage, he broke down and confessed to the crime,” said the officer.

Pradhan’s interrogation revealed that on Thursday around 7.15 pm, he entered Mata ka Mandir to offer evening prayers. As nobody was present at the temple at that time, he removed the headgear and necklace of the temple deity, without realising that his act was being captured in the CCTV camera.

After keeping the ornaments in his bag, Pradhan went inside the priests’ room and stole a DVD player and an iron press before leaving the temple.

“We are probing if Pradhan was involved in similar crimes in the past,” the officer said.